Puranas

Puranas (Sanskrit, "old"), a body of religious compositions on which the popular faith of the Brahminical Hindus is mainly based. They are written in epic couplets, and consist to a large extent of epic myths and legends, much space being also devoted to the character of the gods and the origin of the universe. They are ascribed to Vyasa, but, in their present form at any rate, they are probably not later than the 9th or 10th century of our era.